Anadolu staff
22 January 2024•Update: 22 January 2024
GAZA CITY, Palestine
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Monday that it has lost contact with its teams in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, due to the ground invasion by Israeli tanks in the area.
"Israeli tanks near PRCS Al-Amal Hospital, and we have completely lost contact with our teams due to the ground invasion," it said on X.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said they targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a locally made Yassin 105 shell west of Khan Younis.
The Israeli army carried out early morning intense airstrikes and shelling in the city near Nasser Hospital, an Anadolu correspondent reported.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by Hamas, killing at least 25,105 Palestinians and injuring 62,681. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, according to Tel Aviv.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio
